REVIEW OF ARTICLES ON COMMUNICATION AND THEIR SCHOLARLY ELEMENTS
BY
DIYAOLU
BASIRAT OLUBUKOLA
May, 2016.
1.0 Introduction
Writing
a journal article can be an overwhelming process, but breaking it down into
convenient tasks can make the overwhelming the routine. These convenient tasks
can be identified by determining what the essential elements of a successful
article are and how they function together to produce the desired result. The
focus of this paper is to review five articles on communication and bring out
the scholarly elements with a view of familiarising postgraduate students to
the strategic methods entail in reviewing. And to point out the necessary rules
guiding scholarly article writing.
2.0 Scholarly writing
Scholarly
writing is produced to inform a specialized audience of other scholars in a
particular field. It is a writing crafted by one professional for other
professionals (“Definition of Academic Writing,” 2011).
The
purpose of scholarly writing is the advancement of knowledge within a specific
field. More than a demonstration of the author’s expertise, scholarly writing
is produced to add to the body of knowledge, extending, challenging, or
expanding what is known or believed within the field (Shannon, 2011).
Furthermore
Shannon (2011) opines that formal language is generally used in scholarly
writing, conventional rules of grammar and mechanics; however, the tone is more
serious. Authors use third person in referring to themselves and to their
reader. Contractions are not used. Sentences may be more complex in structure.
Vocabulary is more formal and precise. Abbreviations and acronyms are used
judiciously. Because the audience often other people in the same profession,
authors may use more technical terms. People within the profession know and
understand these terms and expect them to use. However, if the audience is more
general, including people not familiar with the vocabulary of the profession,
the use of technical terms should be kept to a minimum. Author should also
consider defining the technical terms that are used.
3.0 Journal Article
Journals
are composed of collections of academic articles, which are written by scholars
and are usually read by other experts in the discipline (Yan, 2014). Journal
articles can be written by anyone who has something to contribute to the field,
and the type of article written will depend on the kind of information the
writer wishes to share.
He
further stated that, Journal articles are often categorised as: empirical
research articles, literature reviews, case studies, technical articles,
theoretical articles, methodological articles, book reviews, or letters; and
that the most common of these is the empirical research article.
Scholarly articles are articles that have been
peer-reviewed before they are published. This means that experts in the field
of study will review and approve the article before the journal will publish
it.
The most important characteristic of
scholarly article is that it has to pass an academic quality assessment
before it can be published in an academic journal. Before an article is
accepted for publication, it has to be reviewed by researchers working in the
same field. This control process is called peer-reviewing and is designed to
guarantee the academic standard of an article.
4.0 Types of academic/scholarly articles:
§ Original articles: These
consist of study reports and describe results obtained from research for the
first time.
§ Review articles: These
are critical evaluations of studies that have already been published.
§ Theoretical articles: These are reports in which the authors are trying to formulate new theories based on existing research (Bailey, 2011).
5.0 According to Rocco, T.S. and Hatcher, T. (2011), Scholarly elements in article comprise the following:
5.1 The Title
The title identifies the problem area
and may specify the independent and dependent variables. Further, it may
identify the target population and must be clear, descriptive, and short for
indexing purposes. A title states the subject of a scholarly article instead of
its conclusions.
Trite and wasteful phrases such
as: “A
study of.....”, “An Investigation to determine.....”, and “The Influence
of......” should be avoided.
Example of an article title:
ü Influence of Child Rearing
Style, Family Value and Socio-economic Status on Career Preference among
Secondary School Students in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
× The Influence of
Child Rearing Style, Family Value and Socio-economic Status on Career
Preference among Secondary School Students in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
5.2 The Abstract
The beginning of scholarly article
should have an abstract. This should be a paragraph and italicise. The abstract
contains a short summary of the article as well as a description of the
objectives, methods, results and conclusion of the study. Keywords (or subject
words), which identify the contents of the article, are also given in the
abstract.Also contain in abstract are statement of the research hypothesis,
problem, and methodology. It clearly presents the main findings and
conclusions. The abstract contains important information about the article and
does not include citations. It is a section that summarizes the whole article.
Example of an abstract from a biology
report.
Many
plants in Australia have their seeds buried in order for the species to
survive fires. The seeds start to germinate under the soil at certain
temperatures. Seeds of Acacia terminalis and Dillwynia floribunda were
examined in this experiment. It was hypothesised that the seeds need heat for
the germination to start.Seeds of the two species were treated in hot and
cold water and left to start germinating. Acacia terminalis showed a
significant response in germination after the hot water treatment while
Dillwynia floribunda did not. Neither seed showed a response in germination
after cold water treatment. The results for Dillwynia floribunda were
unexpected but may be explained by factors such as water temperature and the
length of time the seeds remained in the heated water.
|
Background
Information
Outline of what was investigated in this experiment Hypothesis Summary of Method Summary of Results Summary of Discussion |
5.3 The Introduction
The introduction presents the
research problem and objectives. It introduces the research by presenting
background information related to the problem. It states clearly why the
research is important, the research subject, and relates the problem to
previous research via a brief and concise review of literature.
5.4 The Materials and Methods
This section includes a clear
statement of the materials and procedures used to collect data for the study.
This portion of the article is a clear step-by-step set of statements of the
data collection processes. Further, the author states clearly and concisely all
assumptions. The author avoids unnecessary details related to the research
procedures. Here, the author states the independent, dependent, and
classificatory variables of the data set.
The author is responsible for
explaining the materials and methods as simply as possible. The author tries to
strike a balance between providing too much information and too little. If the
materials and methods are too complex or would make the article too long for
the journal, the author provides references and/or an address where more
complete instructions can be obtained.
If the procedures used are well known
and without modifications, the author cites an article in which they are
described. There are three important reasons for a clear description of the
materials and methods used in a study:
1) To provide a technique to
replicate the study;
2) provide evidence of the
study's strength; and
3) Show that the procedures
used are appropriate to solve the stated problem.
5.5 The Analysis of Data
This section presents clear and
concise statements of how the data were analyzed. The analysis of data is an
objective, instead of subjective or speculative, presentation. It states all
procedures and appropriate statistical methods used to analyze and/or summarize
the study data.
5.6 The Results
The results section presents the
statistics of the analyzed data and relegates interpretation to the discussion
section. The author states whether differences exist between the treatments and
to what degree. This section presents the research results in a logical
sequence that supports or refutes the hypothesis and it may answer the question
stated in the introduction.
5.6 The Discussion
Here, the author tries to interpret
why the differences stated in the results section do or do not occur. Two to
four salient points are interpreted in detail along with related literature
citations. This section is based on the data that were actually collected and
the resulting analysis of those data.
The author must be cognitive of a
common error many researchers commit, i.e., use statistical inference analyses
in a study and then ignore or water down the outcome in the discussion section.
The reviewer and/or author should ask three important questions while reviewing
and writing the discussion section of a scholarly article:
1) Are conclusions based upon
the data presented?
2) The results discussed in
an impartial and unbiased way? And
3) The conclusions consistent
with the results?
5.7 The Conclusions or Summary
This section presents a precise and
accurate statement of the findings without introduction of new or irrelevant
information. The conclusions drawn should be justified by the statistics and
data presented. The author should use caution and make necessary qualifications
when drawing conclusions. This section poses new questions for possible
investigation and, when appropriate, provides recommendation and implementation
statements of the research findings.
5.8 References
The
research paper is not complete without the list of references. Scholarly
article must cite the references. This section should be an alphabetized list
of all the academic sources of information utilized in the paper. The
format of the references will match the format and style used in the
paper. Common formats include: American Psychological Association (APA),
the format requires parenthetical citations within the text rather than
endnotes or footnotes. Citations in the text provide brief information, usually
the name of the author and the date of publication, to lead the reader to the
source of information in the reference list at the end of the paper (Masters, 2014).The Modern Language
Association (MLA), Harvard
and so forth.
Examples:
APA format structure:
Author, A.A..(Publication Year). Article title. Periodical
Title, Volume (Issue), pp.-pp.
APA format
example:
Nevin,
A. (1990). The changing of teacher education special education.Teacher
Education and Special Education: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division
of the Council for Exceptional Children, 13(3-4), 147-148.
APA Reference citations in
text:
Indirect
Quotation with Parenthetical Citation
Libraries
historically highly value intellectual freedom and patron confidentiality
(LaRue, 2007).
Indirect
Quotation with Author as Part of the Narrative
LaRue
(2007) identified intellectual freedom and patron confidentiality as two key
values held historically by libraries.
Direct
Quotation with Parenthetical Citation
Darwin
used the metaphor of the tree of life "to express the other form of
interconnectedness–genealogical rather than ecological" (Gould &
Brown, 1991, p. 14).
Direct
Quotation with Author as Part of the Narrative
Gould
and Brown (1991) explained that Darwin used the metaphor of the tree of life
"to express the other form of interconnectedness genealogical rather than
ecological” (p. 14).
MLA format structure:
|
Author(s).
"Title of Article." Title of the Periodical volume number.
Issue number (Year of publication): Page Numbers.
|
MLA format Examples:
|
Glasser,
Theodore L., Isabel Awad, and John W. Kim. "The Claims of
Multiculturalism and Journalism’s Promise of Diversity." Journal of
Communication 59.1 (2009): 57-78.
|
6.0 List of Articles
This study review and
brought out the scholarly elements in the following communications articles:
1) Evaluation of the Effect
of Media-mix on HIV/AIDS Information Dissemination in Abia State, Nigeria.
2) Challenges of Communication
Strategies for Sustainable National Development in Nigeria.
3)
The Future of Nigerian
Libraries in the Pace of Information Technology Development.
4)
Self-awareness and
Global Cyber Fraud in Lagos: A Study of the Cynthia Osokogu Saga.
5)
Communicating the Risk
of Diabetes in Nigeria: Bridging Gaps between Research and Policy.
7.0 Article one
Article
Title: Evaluation of the effect of
media-mix on HIV/AIDS information dissemination in Abia State, Nigeria
7.1 Summary
The study examined the effectiveness of media-mix in
disseminating Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency
Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) information to rural communities in Abia State. Mass Media
intervention was organised by the Abia State government with the aims of
preventing HIV by increasing the knowledge, improving risk perception and
changing sexual behaviour of the people.
There was a misconception about the disease that it
only spread through sexual contact contrary to other important factors such as
blood transfusion and use of infected sharp objects such as syringe needles,
razor blade etc. The virus can also be transmitted from mother to child during
pregnancy or at birth. The mass media interventions offer a cost effective way
to reach large number of people, but the study argued that the effect of mass
media may only be short term. This is calling for reinforcement of messages to
sustain the people awareness about the deadly disease using the media-mix
strategies.
One Hundred (100) samples were randomly selected to
represent the population for the study. Questionnaire and Focus group
Discussion were used to collect data for the study. The data collected was
analysed with the use of simple descriptive and inferential statistics.
Findings of the study indicated that majority of the respondents were still in
their active and productive years and their level of knowledge before
interventions revealed that the people where not totally ignorant of the
epidemics in the first instance, but there was a significant increase in the
level of knowledge of the respondents with the intervention of the researcher’s
media-mixs.
The study then recommended that media-mix should be
used in HIV/AIDS educational campaign, this is necessary “because a message
that is repeated many times perhaps with variations but always with basic
consistency becomes familiar and people come to recognize and understand it
without having to think”.
7.2 Scholarly elements
a. Title:
The title capture the essence of the study, but it
is too long. It can be reduced to “Evaluation
of media-mix on HIV/AIDS information dissemination in Abia State”.
Name of author:
the surname and initial were not separated by coma.
·
It is written:
Odoemelam L.E and Nwanchuwku I.
·
Instead of: Odoemelam, L.E and Nwanchuwku, I.
b. Abstract:
It is not italicised, the numbers of words used to
state the sampling method is too long, and the words are more than 34% of the
whole words used for the abstract. That is, Three Hundred and Fifteen (315)
words were used for the abstract; One hundred and Eight (108) was used for
describing the sample method alone. Although, the method, findings,
recommendation were adequately stated in the abstract.
Another observation from this abstract is that,
present tense was used to state the study recommendation:
·
The paper recommends
…….
·
The paper recommended
…….
And the full meaning of the abbreviated HIV/AIDS is
not given for better understanding of the readers “Human Immunodeficiency Virus
/ Acquire Immune Deficiency Syndrome”.
c.
Key
words:
Under the key words the researchers should have
include other register or terminology such as syndrome, virus, transmission,
dissemination, blood transfusion etc.
d. Introduction
The introduction was sufficiently stated to some
extent, but there is no detail explanation of what media-mix is all about or
what it meant. This may hamper or confuse the audience understanding of the
study. The full meaning of HIV was not given likewise the full meaning of
UNAIDS.
·
UNAIDS meaning: United Nations Programme on
HIV and AIDS
There
was no separate heading for literature review apart from the introduction that
introduces the study and communication theory to explain the study was not
stated.
e.
Objectives
Objectives was spelt“objective” instead of objectives.
Also under this heading there is repetition of active-verb ‘identity and ascertain’ in stating
objectives of the study, it would have been appropriate if the active-verb were
varied e.g. to ascertain, to discover, to identify, to know, to examine, to
explain etc.
f.
Research
question
Research question for the study were not stated. The
research questions were supposed to be carve-out from the objectives of the
study and should come before methodology.
g. Methodology
The specific method for the study was not stated
under the heading methodology, it only explained the sampling procedure. The
question listed under methodology has little or no relevance to the objectives.
There is no heading for the analysis, the analysis
started as a continuation of methodology which is not supposed to be. There
should be separate heading to distinguished methodology from analysis. The word
questionnaire was pluralise without indication of two (2) different format of
questionnaires.
Base on the faults observed in the scholarly
elements of this study, it is certain that the findings and conclusion could
not have been accurately arrived at. Though, recommendation and contribution to
knowledge of the research will be useful for the reduction of spread of Human
Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, (HIV/AIDS).
h. References
In communication study in this part of the world
American Psychological Association style of referencing (APA) is the accepted
style for documenting sources of information.
The titles of the text-books stated in the
references were not italicised. Another observation under the reference was
that names were not properly stated as it should be. After the surname of the
author there must be a coma and full-stop after the initial.
8.0 Article two
Article
Title: Challenges of Communication
Strategies for Sustainable National Development in Nigeria.
8.1 Summary
The paper identified some of the challenges that
were facing communication strategies in the sustenance of national development.
It was identified that ineffective communication strategies has been the cause
of ethnic and religious differences among the citizens of Nigeria, and this was
making the development agenda a difficult task to implement. It was argued that
communication strategies are a functional strategy that provides focus and direction
facilitated by a practitioner performing the role of the communication manager
at the functional organizational level.
It was established that communication strategy is a
tool that identifies and manages issues to ensure that national goal are
aligned to societal values and norms. In summary it was argue that challenges
of communication strategies include weak technical skill, poor professional
journalistic standards, dearth of financial resources, and poor integration of
both ICT and traditional platform. Further more power and control, ownership of
the process, cultural and social norms and uptake by individuals and societies
are possible impediments to positive communication strategy to sustainable
national development.
Fifty (50) respondents from Nigerian Ministry of
Information and National Panning were sampled. Questionnaire and focus group
discussion were used to collect data for the study. Statistical Packages for Social Sciences
(SPSS) was used to analyse the data collected.
The study then suggested that the implementing
agency of national development should adjust the strategy on the basis of the
evaluation of the stakeholder groups’ levels of knowledge and awareness.
8.2 Scholarly elements
a. Title:
The title is not contradictory from the main focus.
b. Abstract:
The abstract was adequately stated. It contain the topic, methodology, instrument
used, findings and recommendations.
The abstract was not italicized. It is also observed
that most of the statements were constructed in present tense. The first person
pronoun “We” was used to make
recommendation for the study which is not allow in scholarly writing.
c.
Introduction:
The introduction was well stated but the method of
quoting sources did not include numbers of pages, and this may reduce or hamper
the quick access to information cited.
d. Literature review:
The study stated that communication plays a
significant role in supporting democratic development and stimulating economic
growth. It was also highlighted that communication advocates, argued that the
strategic use of political communication tools and methodologies can influence
the attitude, opinions and behaviours of key stakeholders and secure the
political will necessary for reforms to be successful on the ground. But the
researchers failed to itemise the communication strategies and did not state
the media channel to achieve it.
e.
Statement
of problems:
The statement of problems were not boldly stated
f.
Methodology:
First person pronoun “We” was used to communicate the method employed in the study.
Three methods were also used to implement the study under methodology these
includes: focus group discussion, direct interview and structure questionnaire,
but two methods were mentioned in abstract.
g. Findings:
The findings were not well articulated.
h. Recommendation:
Recommendation was not included in the study, but
going by the last paragraph of result and discussion which stated that “the
evidence by focus group discussion shows that communication strategies employed
by stakeholders in Nigerian communication is very limited. Policy communication
strategies with focus on unidirectional transmission of government policy to
the people, without feedback from the people back to the government”.
There should have been a recommendation or advice
for the government to use social media to pass information across to the
people. This is so because social media give way to quick feedback to
information.
i.
Conclusion:
First person pronoun “we”was used to communicate the conclusion. This should not be
under standard practice.
j.
References:
The titles of the text-books stated in the
references were not italicised. Another observation under the reference was
that names were not properly stated as it should be. After the surname of the
author there must be a coma and full-stop after the initial.
9.0 Article 3
Article
Title: The Future of Nigerian
Libraries in the Pace of Information technology Development.
9.1 Summary
The study examines the future of Nigerian library in
place of information technologies, as information technology is gradually
eroding the printed resources in the library.
Libraries are known to be chief custodian and
sources of getting adequate information by the citizen. It further traced the
origin of information technology and its usefulness in libraries. The
challenges of Information Communication Technology (ICT) usage in libraries
routines were discussed, it was noted that Nigerian Libraries were slow in
embracing the new technology and recommended that “librarian and information
professionals must prepare themselves to fully embrace information
technologies”.
9.2 Scholarly elements
a. Title:
There is a correlation between the title and the
body of the study, but if the title is reduced to “Future of Nigerian Libraries
in the pace of information technology” it will manage words.
b. Abstract:
The abstract was well stated; it contained the
title, challenges, suggestion/recommendation and conclusion of the study. But
it failed to state the instrument and methodology employed to carry out the
study.
c.
Introduction:
The introduction was well stated, it gives insight
to the study.
d. Literature review:
The literature review was sufficient enough, but the
numbers of pages of the cited reference were not stated.
e.
Objectives:
There is no stated objectives and research question
for the study, and these are the elements that will show if the study is
scientific or not.
f.
Methodology:
The specific method employed and the instruments
used were not stated.
g. Conclusion:
The conclusion would have been a very good
observation to improve the usage of Information Communication Technology (ICT)
by libraries in Nigeria. But the researchers did not really carried out the
study using scientific method, instrument and sampling procedure to elicit
response from specific target population to prove scientifically the present
stage of Nigerian Libraries in the pace of information technology.
h. References:
There is lack of consistencies in the references
stated. The number one (1) reference for example has no coma after surname and
no full-stop at the end of the date. The third reference first letter “s” in services was capitalised when the
first letter of the words that pre-cede are in lowercase.
10.0 Article 4
Article
Title: Self-awareness and Global
Cyber Fraud in Lagos: A Study of the Cynthia Osokogu Saga.
10.1 Summary:
The paper discussed extensively on the cyber crime
and various forms of internet fraud. Such as hacking or unauthorised use of
computer systems, defacing websites, creation and malicious dissemination of
computer viruses, some men disguisesor pretended to be women to defraud their
victims. The study proposed several research questions and hypothesis that
further investigated the use of shared on-line content among different
categories of people within Lagos State, and at the end of the study , it was
found that a positive relationship exist among users and cyber crime, a
development that makes users vulnerable.
The study then recommended cautioned use of
internet, change of password and avoidance of sharing personal information with
unfamiliar people among others.
4.2 Scholarly elements
a. Title:
The title differs from the main focus of the
research. For instance, the study investigates the use of social networking
among various users in Lagos, while the case study mentioned is not directly
related. The only place where ‘Osokogu’ became relevant was the sociological
aspects.
b. Abstract:
The abstract was presented like literature review,
it did not summarise the study as it is supposed to be in abstract
presentation, and the objectives of the study, the findings and recommendation
were not stated. As against the standard of abstract content, the researcher
quoted Joseph Luft and Harrington. Present tense was used to narrate the
abstract instead of past tense e.g. the first sentence of the abstract.
c.
Literature
Review:
The research doesn’t provide literature review on
the use of social networking and fraudulent use among people.
d. Problem statement:
Problem statements were not connected with the
study.
e.
Methodology:
Descriptive survey was used to carry out the
research. The study population comprises people who use internet applications
such as e-mail, chat rooms, face book, twitter etc.
Questionnaire was used to administer question to
Sixty Three (63) sample sizes, comprising of 36 men and 27 women.
f.
Findings:
Findings were not well integrated. The finding shows
that there is positive relationship between shared contents among friendly
internet users and cyber fraud increase in Lagos, Nigeria. But the sample size use for the study is so few
that the researcher cannot generalize the findings to Lagos, because the
population of Lagos according to 2006 census is above 12 million and if the
study proved to cover Lagos state the population sample should be more than
Sixty Three (63). It should be at least 10% of Lagos population.
g. Recommendations:
Even though, the problem statements were not
connected with the study and findings were not well integrated, yet the
recommendation will be very useful to keep people at alert and be mindful with
the way they relate with strangers on social media. They should monitor the
traffic that enters their face-book account, twitter,electronic mailing etc.,
changing of password regularly, and sharing of vital personal, family and
business information only with those known and trusted.
h. References
There were series of missing references and poor
citation. “Longe, Chiemeke, Fashola, and Omilabu were poorly cited in the in
text citation, the date of their cited
material was not included in the in text citation, and this cited sources was
completely omitted in the referencing, likewise Stewart and D’ Angelo, 1975’
was not in the list of references.
11.0 Article 5
Article
Title: Communicating the Risk of
Diabetes in Nigeria: Bridging Gaps between Research and Policy
11.1 Summary
The paper discussed some introductory notes on the
effects of diabetes, although the study was to communicate the risk of diabetes
in Nigeria, in order to bridge gap between research and policy using the
proximate communication strategy as the research tool.The researchaim to
develop the capacity of, and build consensus among health and educational
practitioners, health researchers, NGOs and other stakeholders this will help
to improve the prevention and management of diabetes in Nigeria. Furthermore,
it will enhance skill, knowledge and understanding of people working directly
with children and young people on best practice on prevention and management of
diabetes and increase the understanding and knowledge of school children within
Nigeria.
Many literatures were cited and some cases were
reported as experiment, though, there were no substantive explanations or
reasons of such.
The paper concluded that healthittude project had a
significant impact and success on workingwith women and families involved in
the project, because it has increased their confidence and ability in cooking
healthier food at their various homes based on their participation in the
project.
11.2 Scholarly elements
a. Title:
The body of the research did not really cover the
title. As the title read “Communicating the Risk of Diabetes in Nigeria:
Bridging Gaps between Research and Policy” “Policy”
was not fully expatiated in the body of the research.
b. Abstract:
Three paragraphs were used to communicate the
content of the abstract. Future and present tenses were also used in the
abstract content; quotations of three authors were used. All these negate the
rules of abstract writing. The spacing is 1.5 instead of single. The findings,
methods employed, instrument and recommendations were not stated in the
abstract.
c. Key
words:
Words likeobesity and malnutrition can still be
included in key words.
d. Introduction:
HIV was abbreviated, but the full meaning is not
given“Human Immunodeficiency virus”
e. Methodology:
The method used for the
study comprises an interactive, participative process where health researcher
and policy makers are brought together in a capacity building and consensus
building initiative, designed to generate group wisdom, joint learning and
shared ownership for the promotion of health and well-being among at risk
populations.
The language used in
communicating the methodology make it look like a proposal. Future tenses were
used to communicate the methodology, e.g. “This
research will be undertaken in a two stages design”. “In these FDGs between 10
and 15 participants will be brought together...........”.
First person pronoun “we”was used in communicating content
of the methodology, e.g. “we will
conduct school-based workshop.......”.
f. Findings:
Findings, recommendations
and other evidence of scholarly research were not available and it was further
stated that “expected outcomes of the
research are............”.This make the study look more of a proposal than
article.
g. References:
Arrangement of the references
is not consistence, full-stops are omitted at the end of some of the years of
publications and the general arrangement of text on the references was not in
order. Some of the cited sources were not included in the references.e.g “Akinfeleye, 2008 and Fasanmade, 2008”.
12.0 General view of the articles:
The
articles are communication articles with different
titles, but they share things in common in their referencing. This is due to
the fact that, they all used APA referencing style. The references share one or
more of the following in common: title of some of the cited journals were not
italicised, names of some of the cited authors were not properly stated e.g.
omissions of coma and full-stop where it is appropriate, and missing
references, i.e. work cited in the body of the research are not included in the
list of references. This is applicable to article four and five were authors
like Longe, Chiemeke, Fashola, Omlabu, Akinfeleye and Fasanmade were poorly
cited in the in text citation and totally omitted in reference list.
13.0 Conclusion:
The
primary aim of this study is to review and bring out the scholarly elements in
five communication articles. The analysis in this work has clearly expatiated
on the scholarly elements which include; the title, abstract, introduction,
objectives, materials and methods, analysis of data, result, discussion,
recommendation and conclusion.
In
any scholarly article where all these aforementioned were not included, such
article does not meet the scholarly standard of article writing. And the
inclusion alone does not satisfy the scholarly standard of writing. The whole
elements must complement one another to come to a meaningful conclusion and
recommendation that will add to existing work and contribute significantly to
the body of literatures.
References
Akodu, P.K. (2013). Self awareness and
global cyber fraud in Lagos: A study of
Cynthia
Osokogu saga.Journal of Multimedia and
Communication Studies, 1 (1): 180-198.
Bailey, S. (2011). Academic writing: A Handbook for International Students.
Routledge, USA.
Erimieleagbon,N and Okonko,V. (2009).
The future of Nigerian libraries in the
pace
of information technology development. International
Journal of Language and Communication Studies 2 (1&2): 151-158.
Masters, K. (2014).Guide to APAReferencing Style 6th Edition: University
Library Guide.The University of Sydney, USA.
Odoemelam, L.E. and Nwachukwu, I.(2013).Evaluation
of the effect of media-
mix
on HIV/AIDS information dissemination in Abia State, Nigeria. Journal of Media and Communication Studies
5(9): 132 – 136.
Ojenike, B., Adedokun, S.O., Odunsi,
A.O. and Ojenike, J.O. (2014).
Challenges
of communication strategies for sustainable national development in Nigeria.Journal of Media and Communication Studies 6
(3): 43-47.
Ralph, A. A. and Ismail, A. I.
(2012).Communicating the risk of diabetes in
Nigeria:
Bridging gaps between research and policy. Communication
Review: A Journal of the Department of Mass Communication, University of
Lagos. 6(1): 1-18.
Rocco, T.S. and Hatcher, T. (2011).The Handbook of Scholarly Writing and
Publishing. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Shannon, Sandra L. (2011). A Guide to Academic and Scholarly Writing:
Baldwin
Book Publishing, Oveido, USA.
Yan, B. (2014).Writing
Articles for Journal Publication. USA: Cape Peninsula
University
of Technology.
Definition of academic writing. (2011).
Retrieved from Your Dictionary
website:
http://www
yourdictionary.com/reference/word-definitions/ definition-of-academic-writing.html.
On April 6th 2016.
REVIEW OF ARTICLES ON COMMUNICATION AND THEIR SCHOLARLY ELEMENTS
Reviewed by IFEDAYO AKINWALERE
on
10:04:00 am
Rating: